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Hell in a Cell 2009
Hell in a Cell 2009 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment, which took place on October 4, 2009 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. "Monster" by Skillet was the official theme song for Hell in a Cell. It featured talent from the Raw and SmackDown brands. The name of the event was voted by fans via WWE's official website. Hell in a Cell was chosen over No Escape, Lock Up and Rage in a Cage. Eight matches took place on the event's card. The show was what is known as a supercard, which featured more than one main event match. The concept of the show was that each of these main event matches would be contested as Hell in a Cell matches. The main events of the evening included D-Generation X's Triple H and Shawn Michaels defeating The Legacy's Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase, Randy Orton defeating John Cena to win the WWE Championship, and The Undertaker defeating CM Punk to win the World Heavyweight Championship. Other matches featured on the show were John Morrison defending the WWE Intercontinental Championship against Dolph Ziggler, Mickie James versus Alicia Fox for the WWE Divas Championship, Unified WWE Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho and The Big Show versus Batista and Rey Mysterio, Drew McIntyre facing R-Truth, and a Triple Threat match for the WWE United States Championship among Kofi Kingston, The Miz and Jack Swagger. The use of the cell was limited by the absence of blood, due to the WWE's no blading policy. As a result, the matches lacked the brutality expected from Hell in a Cell contests, making the event a huge disappointment. The pay-per-view drew 283,000 buys, and is up from the 261,000 buys No Mercy 2008 got. Background The main rivalry from the Raw brand is between John Cena and Randy Orton over their vying for the WWE Championship; at SummerSlam, Orton had retained the title in a controversial fashion that saw him intentionally get disqualified before ultimately retaining the title; WWE owner, Vince McMahon, announced a rematch at Breaking Point; an "I Quit" match which was won by Cena. The following night on Raw, Orton received a rematch for the title from the night's guest matchmaker Trish Stratus at Hell in a Cell in the eponymous match. The main rivalry from the SmackDown brand is between the World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk and The Undertaker. At Breaking Point, the two faced off in a submission match. Despite Undertaker successfully forcing Punk to submit with his Hell's Gate submission hold, SmackDown general manager Theodore Long declared that the hold had been banned "a long time ago" by Vickie Guerrero and restarted the match. Reminiscent of the Montreal Screwjob, Punk later locked in his Anaconda vise hold and despite Undertaker never submitting, Punk was declared the winner when referee Scott Armstrong called for the bell to be rang. On the September 18 edition of SmackDown, Undertaker kidnapped Long inside his limousine. Released from a casket a week later, a startled Long announced a reversal on the Hell's Gate ban and that a rematch between the two will take place at the event in a Hell in a Cell match. Triple H and Shawn Michaels reformed their tag team unit D-Generation X at SummerSlam in a winning effort against Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes (collectively known as The Legacy). Their confrontations continued in the coming weeks before leading to a falls count anywhere match that can only be won by submission, which saw The Legacy get the victory. After one last major brawl between both teams the following night on Raw, it was announced later that night they would face one more time at the event in a Hell in a Cell match of their own. Dolph Ziggler continued his pursuit for the WWE Intercontinental Championship that he started in July when he won a triple threat match on the August 27 edition of WWE Superstars against Mike Knox and Finlay to become the number-one contender. A week later on SmackDown, John Morrison defeated Rey Mysterio to become the new Intercontinental Champion. The match between Ziggler and Morrison was originally set to take place at Breaking Point. However, the match was later postponed and subsequently announced to take place at Hell in a Cell instead. Batista made his return to the company following a torn biceps brachii muscle and joined SmackDown, where he came into immediate conflict with Unified WWE Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho and The Big Show. After several confrontations with the team, Batista announced his contention for the titles at Hell in a Cell with partner Rey Mysterio. In July at Night of Champions, Mickie James won the WWE Divas Championship by defeating Maryse. Three months later, Alicia Fox who was drafted to Raw from SmackDown, won a match against Gail Kim to become number one contender to the Divas title. The following week, it was announced that James will defend the Divas Championship against Fox at Hell in a Cell. Later that night, James faced Beth Phoenix in a non-title match but lost after a distraction from Fox. After the match, Fox picked up the Divas Championship belt and attacked James. On the September 28th episode of Raw, James defeated Rosa Mendes in non-title action. After the match, Fox who accompanied Mendes to the ring engaged in a staredown with James. Drew McIntyre debuted on the August 28th episode of SmackDown, attacking R Truth before their scheduled match. McIntyre claimed that if the fans want to cheer for someone who raps and dances. The party will be over. R Truth came out to the ring for his match the following week but was again attacked by McIntyre. Truth was then interviewed backstage about McIntyre and he demanded a match with him but was once again attacked by McIntyre. A week later, Truth was scheduled for a match against Charlie Haas but McIntyre appeared, stated that Truth was in an accident backstage and unable to compete before attacking Haas with a DDT. On the September 25 episode of SmackDown, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon introduced McIntyre as the superstar he had personally signed to the SmackDown brand and called him a future World Champion. Truth came out through the crowd, said he wanted to personally welcome him to SmackDown and attacked him. The two brawled until they were separated. The following week, during the Decade Of SmackDown celebration, McIntyre made a toast and after taking his drink he was attacked by Truth. The two brawled all throughout the room until they landed in the cake and were again separated. It was announced that McIntyre would face Truth at Hell in a Cell. Event Preliminary matches The first televised match was a Hell in a Cell match between World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk and The Undertaker for the World Heavyweight Championship. Punk focused on Undertaker's leg in the early going. Punk hit Taker with a steel chair to score a near-fall. After Punk performed his signature knee strike, Taker hit a Last Ride to score a near-fall. Punk then attempted to hit Taker with a steel chair again but Taker countered with a big boot. Taker hit a chokeslam followed by a Tombstone Piledriver to become the new World Heavyweight Champion. The next match featured Intercontinental Champion John Morrison defending his title against Dolph Ziggler. Control of the match shifted between both superstars. Morrison missed the Starship Pain in the early part of the match. Ziggler dominated until Morrison countered a powerslam attept into a DDT. Morrison then missed a Flying Chuck, after which Ziggler hit a German suplex. Ziggler attempted to use a Zig-Zag but Morrison held onto the ropes. Morrison retained his title after hitting Ziggler with a knee and performing the Starship Pain. Next was the Divas Championship match between defending champion Mickie James and Alicia Fox. James dominated most of the match before countering a bridge attempt by Fox into a DDT to score the pinfall and retain her championship. The next match was between Unified Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho & The Big Show and Batista & Rey Mysterio. The challengers dominated the early part of the match, isolating Jericho from his partner. Batista hit Jericho with a spinebuster to score a near-fall, after which Jericho hit a Codebreaker on Batista to score a near-fall. Big Show then performed a chokeslam on Batista but Mysterio broke the pinfall. Batista speared both Jericho and Show on the outside. Rey then hit a 619 on Show but was hit with a knockout punch while attempting a West Coast Pop. Show then pinned Rey to retain the titles. Main event matches The first main event match was a Hell in a Cell match for the WWE Championship between champion John Cena and Randy Orton. Both competitors had control at different points of the match. "The Champ" used the cage to his advantage when he slammed Orton twice into the wall of the cage. When Cena attempted to slam Orton a third time the challenger pushed him into the wall instead. Orton the attempted to drive Cena onto the steel steps but "The Champ" bodyslammed the challenger to the outside. Cena followed with his usual You Can't See Me and Five Knuckle Shuffle. Orton then hit his middle-rope DDT for a near-fall. Cena followed with an Attitude Adjustment but Orton kicked out. Orton hit Cena on the neck with a steel chair, followed by a pin attempt which Cena kicked out of. Cena applied the STF to Orton but Orton managed to get to the ropes. When Cena attempted another STF Orton pushed him off, knocking the referee out in the process. Cena applied another STF and Orton tapped out, but the referee was unconscious at the time. After Cena checked on the referee Orton hit an RKO but Cena kicked out. Orton then nailed Cena with a punt kick to win his fifth WWE Championship. The next match featured R-Truth against Drew McIntyre. R-Truth hit a dropkick and leg lariat in the early going before McIntyre hit him with a boot to the face and a clothesline. McIntyre attempted twice to hit his Future Shock DDT but Truth countered each one until McIntyre threw him from the top rope. McIntyre followed with the Future Shock to score the pinfall. Next was a Triple Threat match for the United States Championship between champion Kofi Kingston, The Miz and Jack Swagger. Miz and Swagger worked together to deliver a double clothesline and double Irish wip to Kingston. Miz however attacked Swagger and hit Swagger and Kingston with some of his signature moves. Swagger hoisted Miz on his shoulders for an electric chair and Kingston hit Miz with a crossbody at the same time. Swagger delivered a belly-to-belly suplex on Kingston and covered him but Miz broke the pin. Kingston afterwards performed a Boom Drop on Swagger but Miz broke that pin too. Swagger attempted a German suplex on Miz but Kingston hit him with the Trouble in Paradise. Miz the delivered a Skull-Crushing Finale to Kingston but Swagger put Kingston's foot on the rope. Swagger hit his Gutwrench Powerbomb on Miz after which Kingston hit another Trouble in Paradise on Swagger. Kingston then pinned Miz to retain his title. The final match was a Hell in a Cell tag team match between D-Generation-X and Legacy. Rhodes and DiBiase attacked DX during their entrance which led to a brwl outside the cage before the match even started. Rhodes delivered a Cross Rhodes on the entrance ramp to Triple-H. Legacy then put Michaels inside the cage and locked the door with HHH outside. Rhodes and DiBiase focused on Michaels' knee, performing knee breakers ramming it into the steel post. HBK fought back, delivering an atomic drop, chops and a Sweet Chin Music to DiBiase. However Legacy continued to dominate Michaels as Triple-H tried to break the lock with a chair. Triple-H then left, seemingly abandoning HBK. Rhodes and DiBiase then used the same leglock and Million Dollar Dream combo on the still alone HBK. However, HHH returned with pliers and opened the door, dominating Rhodes and DiBiase and turning the match around. Triple-H hit DiBiase with a sledgehammer and delivered a Pedigree on him, then left him outside the cage- and locked the door(Deja Vu). HHH and HBK finished Rhodes off with a sledgehammer/Sweet Chin Music to win the match. After the match, DiBiase entered the ring but was greeted with a Sweet Chin Music. Reception Hell In A Cell received generally mixed reviews. The Sun gave the event a generally mixed review. The newspaper praised the quality of the wrestling, but criticized the usage of the cell, claiming it pointless for the first two cell matches, and only marginally utilized in the third. They noted, "The current PG rating is polluting the quality of the matches, allowing for no Blood." Overall they awarded the event a 6.5/10. In a more positive review, Chris & Bryan Sokol of SLAM! Wrestling awarded the World Championship match a 6 out of 10, the WWE Championship match an 8 out of 10, and the main event tag team match a 7 out of 10. Overall, they awarded the event a 7 out of 10. Results ; ; *Dark Match: Matt Hardy defeated Mike Knox *The Undertaker defeated CM Punk in a Hell in a Cell Match to win the World Heavyweight Championship (10:24) *John Morrison defeated Dolph Ziggler to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship (15:41) *Mickie James defeated Alicia Fox to retain the WWE Divas Championship (5:20) *The Big Show & Chris Jericho defeated Batista & Rey Mysterio to retain the WWE Unified Tag Team Championship (13:41) *Randy Orton defeated John Cena in a Hell in a Cell Match to win the WWE Championship (21:24) *Drew McIntyre defeated R-Truth (4:38) *Kofi Kingston defeated The Miz & Jack Swagger in a Triple Threat Match to retain the WWE United States Championship (7:53) *D-Generation X (Triple H & Shawn Michaels) defeated The Legacy (Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase) in a Tag Team Hell in a Cell Match (18:02) Other on-screen talent See also *List of WWE pay-per-view events *WWE Event History *Hell in a Cell DVD Release *Hell in a Cell 2009 on DVD External links * Hell in a Cell 2009 Official Website * Hell in a Cell 2009 at CAGEMATCH.net * on WWE Network Category:Events with Hell in a Cell matches Category:2009 pay-per-view events Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events Category:Hell in a Cell PPV